Girls from Arran High School did the island proud when they recently took part in the Spar 7s football tournament in Kilwinning, narrowly missing out on a place at the regional finals.
The pupils train every week at the popular after-school girls football club offered by Active Schools and run by Arran Youth Foundations.
Coach Graeme Johnston, AYF volunteer Grant Downie and Active Schools’ Ross Dobson accompanied the S1/2 girls on Thursday November 9 and the S3/4 girls on Thursday November 16 to the tournament, to compete against school teams from across North Ayrshire.
The younger girls were narrowly defeated in their games, with Julia Kunis bagging three goals for Arran along the way. The senior pupils managed two wins, with goals from Katherine Coyle, Nina Swiatek and Olivia Morgan-Lee (2), and a couple of close defeats. This saw them finish 4th out of 6 teams, just missing out on the top three spots which would have seen them qualify for the next round.
Graeme said: “I’m so proud of all of the girls who took part. They did Arran High School and the island community so proud.
“Realistically, with all the other schools having rolls of around 1,200 while ours sits closer to 300, we should come last every time we take part in one of these tournaments – but the girls have worked so hard in their weekly training sessions this past year and I think that shows with how competitive we are now.
“As always, I would like to give a huge thanks from myself and the girls, to our coach Grant, who gives up his time every Thursday to help me lead the sessions. Thanks also to Ross for all his help, both on the trips and with the weekly running of the club.
“In all my years working on Arran, there haven’t been many clubs we’ve run that have so much passion, enthusiasm and commitment as the girls put in to their football, which makes it a real pleasure to do.
“AYF has always been guided by the young people, so for that reason we have decided to act upon the many requests we’ve had for more girls football sessions – now, not only will we meet every Thursday from 3.45-4.45pm, but also every Monday from 3.45-6.45pm.
“All sessions take place on the astro or grass pitches behind the high school. If you attend AHS and would like more information about joining, please come and see myself or Ross Dobson.”
The S3/4 team who took part in the tournament. NO_B48girls01_23_football_tournament
The girls warm up ahead of a game. NO_B48girls02_23_warm_up
Action from one of the matches. NO_B48girls03_23_match_action
The S1/2 girls pose for a team photo with coaches Graeme Johnston, left, and Grant Downie. NO_B48girls04_23_young _team